Popular films aren’t usually known for promoting peace. There’s a lot of focus on big action sequences in the wide release movies that studios hope will become summer blockbusters, especially when superheroes are involved. In 1987 and 2007, two WRL Peace Calendars sought to highlight movies that promote peace and justice.
WRL’s interest in movies isn’t limited to two calendars. In my spare time I consider myself a bit of a film buff, so when I was working on the digitization projects expanding access to WRL publications, you can imagine how pleased I was to discover that they often discuss books, music, and, yes, films. For example, Nonviolent Activist ran a column called Activist Reviews, which mostly covered books, but in the May-June 1999 issue they included a review by Bre Reiber and Tom Martinez revisiting the original Star Wars trilogy.
When it came time to digitize all of WRL’s calendars, I was thrilled to find the two that cover movies from around the world. The 1987 calendar presents over 150 Films for Peace and Justice and includes introductions by Ruby Dee and Ed Asner. It also happens to have one of my favorite movie theaters on its cover! 2007's calendar was called Screenpeace: An Antiwar Film Festival. It covered films that were released from 1987-2006, and featured a forward by John Sayles. Together, the calendars strive to present new films and ideas to audiences across "a smattering of the many films that touch on issues of peace and justice."
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what movies I might add to the list. Understandably, the lists focus on dramas and documentaries, both full-length and short films. Selections like Dr. Strangelove and The Great Dictator already add a satirist’s view. But maybe a horror movie or two could be added to the list? What about The Devil’s Backbone or Pan’s Labyrinth, both directed by Guillermo del Toro about the horrors of the Spanish Civil War? I’d certainly like to see more animated films included. Grave of the Fireflies seems like a noticeable absence to me. Of course, there are all of the movies that came out after 2006. Oppenheimer seems obvious, but what about Selma or Rustin?
There's now a list of movies from the calendars available on Letterboxd, a social media platform for film buffs. It contains 184 of the films, and it can be used to create your own watchlists.
Are there movies you would add to the list?
– Laura Melbourne
Laura Melbourne is an Archival Associate in the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, which is the repository for the War Resisters League Records. She was also the Fall 2022 Freeman Intern and helped with centennial projects like the digitization of WRL publications.
This is one of several WRL Centennial History blog articles focused on WRL’s Peace Calendars. We encourage you to check out:
Virginia Baron's Introduction to the 1997 WRL Peace Calendar
The WRL Peace Calendar: An Overview
WRL Peace Calendars Featuring Women’s Voices, Art, and Activism
WRL Peace Calendars Featuring Children’s Voices and Thoughts
Salaam Shalom Solh: 2008 WRL Calendar Stories Remain Exemplary Even After 16 Years
